North Carolina Courage midfielder Victoria Pickett is no stranger to telling her story. But talking to a camera is much different than standing in front of a room full of listeners. While it forces her out of her comfort zone, Pickett sees the good that comes from sharing her story and the importance of destigmatizing the conversation around mental health, especially for young people who see themselves in her story.
Speaking to roughly 100 NCFC Youth and Courage Academy players in September, Pickett did just that. From soccer injuries and trades to family health struggles and the loss of her older brother Dylan, who she honors every game by wearing the number 94, Pickett spoke about her own struggles with mental health and the way she overcame those difficult moments.
“When it comes to destigmatizing the conversation around mental health, it just means opening up the conversation and being vulnerable. Being willing to discuss the hard stuff and showing all of yourself, you can create more authentic, real connections with people. The world needs to be a more accepting and understanding place and people just need to listen a bit more because you never know what is going on in someone’s life,” Pickett said.
Pickett is the Courage’s nominee for the NWSL’s Lauren Holiday Impact Award for the work she does alongside the Wake County chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI). Fans can vote for Pickett and NAMI Wake County here.
Pickett sought out opportunities to work with NAMI due to the organization’s similarities to the Canadian Mental Health Association, who helped Pickett and her family when she was younger.
“The CMHA changed our lives. They helped us get through some very difficult times and I wanted to find the American version of that. I just really love NAMI’s mission and what they are trying to do for the community and for those suffering from mental illness and breaking down the stigma around mental health in general. Their mission just really resonated with me and it is great to partner with such an amazing organization,” Pickett said.
NAMI is the country’s largest grassroots mental health organization, with the Wake County affiliate serving the community through advocacy, education, support and raising public awareness surrounding mental illness through programs designed to meet people where they are at.
“To have a partnership with the Courage and someone as great as Vic, it really helps us to elevate our mission and get more people interested in having the conversation about mental health. The more people that learn about NAMI and our resources, the more people we are able to help. We’re so grateful for this partnership, because the Courage has such a great reach into the youth population and young athletes, which is a really important demographic for us to help,” NAMI Wake County Executive Director Mark Simons said.
Mary Pratt, a member of ’07 White, was one of the roughly 100 players who attended Pickett’s talk at WRAL Soccer Park.
“Mental health and the struggles with it are something that you can’t talk about enough. There are a lot of layers to it, so coming to these talks and listening to somebody talk about it is the first step to helping everyone open up about their own struggles and be comfortable with the idea of struggling with mental health,” Pratt said.
Seeing someone who was at one point just like Pratt, a young soccer player, be open about these topics was helpful to her.
“There are people just like me out there who go through these things and you never know what somebody is going through. It is helpful to see that there are people out there, similar to me, who have struggles and are not afraid to open up about them,” Pratt said.
For Pickett, reaching this demographic of young soccer players was important because of her own struggles she went through at that age.
“At that age, you’re still trying to find yourself and a lot of people during that period in their life have their worth so tied into what other people think of them. I think it is important to be able to realize that whatever you’re going through, whatever you’re feeling is okay and that you aren’t alone,” Pickett said.
Throughout some of her toughest moments, Pickett has leaned on her support systems. One of the strongest of which are her Courage teammates and coaches, many of whom were in attendance to support her.
“It means everything to me. Not to be cliché, but it really does. I had gone through such a hard time in my life, and they were all such a big part of it last year, so to see them out here supporting me again, not just in this moment but continuously, just means so much. They’ve proven that they will always be there for me, whether it is at a NAMI event or on the field or in the locker room, it’s reassuring to know that I have such amazing people in my corner,” Pickett said.
Sharing the story of the toughest moments in a person’s life isn’t easy, but especially with her team beside her, Pickett is prepared to do so in order to open up and destigmatize the conversation around mental health.
